On Friday, The State reported that Sen. Lindsey Graham told Karl Rove his recommendation for the U.S. Supreme Court nominee would be William W. Wilkins, a chief judge of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond Va. Wilkins brother, David Wilkins, became the ambassador to Canada last month. LINK

SCOTUS: O'Connor:

Who will break the story of that murky alleged conversation between Justice O'Connor and some unnamed Senators to lobby her to become Chief?

In the Boston Globe today Cathy Young examines Dahlia Lithwick op-ed piece from The New York Times on July 2nd which explores Justice Sandy Day O'Connor's gender and how it may have or may have not influenced her role on the court. LINK

SCOTUS: politics and campaigns:

The New York Times' Toner and Liptak provided an excellent Sunday look at Roe v. Wade's 6-3 status, therefore centering the abortion battle around the more complicated 5-4 status of issues such as partial-birth abortion. LINK

The first battleground for the new, abortion-sensitive political arena: Virginia LINK

The New York Times leads today's paper with the "sharp decline" in Reserve and National Guard troops serving on active duty since the peak in the immediate aftermath of the invasion into Iraq. LINK

The New York Times editorial board votes "no" on the administrative subpoena under consideration as part of Patriot Act II. LINK

The New York Daily News' James Gordon Meek writes up Fran Townsend's Sunday morning show pushback on Rep. Jane Harman's (D-CA) recent critical comments about some of the Administration's rhetoric on the war on terror. We wonder if the pushback will cause some Democrats to rethink this line of attack. LINK

Cooper/Rove:

The Washington Post's Josh White writes that "it is still unknown whether Rove is a focus of the investigation. Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, has said that Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has told him that Rove is not a target of the probe. Luskin said yesterday that Rove did not know Plame's name and was not actively trying to push the information into the public realm." LINK

"Instead, Luskin said, Rove discussed the matter -- under the cloak of secrecy -- with Cooper at the tail end of a conversation about a different issue. Cooper had called Rove to discuss other matters on a Friday before deadline, and the topic of Wilson came up briefly. Luskin said Cooper raised the question."